Lightyear. The Gray Man. Ghosted. Pain Hustlers. Deadpool & Wolverine. Red One. These are the movies Chris Evans has starred in since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and while I personally liked Lightyear and can defend aspects of The Gray Man, it can be easily argued that there is not a single good film among that list.
Chris Evans’ post-MCU downturn is even more head-scratching when you consider that A) he showed he was plenty capable of quality work WHILE he was acting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with films such as Snowpiercer, Gifted, and Knives Out, and B) all of his fellow MCU co-stars seem to be thriving since winding down their central Marvel roles.
mcu actors post-endgame pic.twitter.com/3JgQspWWw4
— shadow knight (@shadowknightdk) November 14, 2024
As a viral post on X, f0rmerly Twitter, pointed out, the last year or so has seen Robert Downey Jr. win an Oscar for Oppenheimer, Mark Ruffalo get nominated for one for Poor Things, and Chris Hemsworth put in perhaps a career-best performance in George Miller’s Furiosa. Scarlett Johansson starred in Wes Anderson’s excellent 2023 film Asteroid City. Sebastian Stan has had a wildly interesting career in the last few years.
Evans, meanwhile, is featuring alongside The Rock in Red One, one of the worst-reviewed films of the year.
How did he go from this performance in snowpiercer to this pic.twitter.com/IZ8VcCHqVJ https://t.co/WZs1ZQPQkt
— 👑 𝔈𝔳𝔦𝔩 𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫 👑🇵🇸 (@Pureevilbich) November 13, 2024
He used to be in Edgar wright and Danny Boyle films. https://t.co/O6hMvUKV8u
— Taylor Salami (@SalamiTaylor) November 12, 2024
mcu actors post-endgame pic.twitter.com/3JgQspWWw4
— shadow knight (@shadowknightdk) November 14, 2024
Evans’ upcoming projects are a bit more promising, however, as he’s starring in Celine Song’s follow-up to Past Lives alongside Pedro Pascal and Dakota Johnson, the Ethan Cohen film Honey Don’t!, and the action-adventure Sacrifice alongside Anya Taylor-Joy.
If Evans isn’t able to turn his career around with these upcoming movies, however, it might be over for the former MCU stalwart (until he eventually returns as Captain America), especially with a new crop of A-list actors up-and-coming in Hollywood.